"Krone" interview

Baits: Guitar punk in the spa instead of the pub

With fun and passion against a world that is in a mess all around: the Viennese punk rock collective Baits presents its second album.

(Bild: Noise Appeal Records, Florian Lehner Krone KREATIV,)

After the turmoil of the pandemic and many celebrated live concerts, the Baits locked themselves back in the studio last year to record their second album "All Filler No Killer". Nomen is definitely not omen here, that much can be said. Singer Sonja and drummer Fazo talk about role models, foreign policy, passion and renunciation.

Twenty-three years ago, a Canadian teenage collective called Sum 41 first attracted attention and made a lasting impact on the millennial punk rock scene with songs such as "Fat Lip", "Motivation" and "In Too Deep" in a way that only Blink-182 could at the time. The accompanying album was whimsically titled "All Killer No Filler" and perfectly reflected the high self-confidence and unbridled wildness of the youthful combo. Almost a quarter of a century later, coincidence would have it that the gentlemen of Sum 41, who are now of a more mature age, are entering their well-earned early punk rock retirement and the Viennese collective of Baits are holding up their torch, but without forgoing indie, pop and surf influences. Consequently, the quartet named their second album "All Filler No Killer" on an ironic meta-level, but they don't want it to be reminiscent of Sum 41, as singer Sonja and drummer/producer Fazo emphasize in the "Krone" interview at the Hernals hospitality institution Brandstätter.

(Bild: Andreas Graf)

Against the inner emptiness
"Finding an album title wasn't so easy this time. The title is funny on several levels, but also meant seriously. On the one hand, we did without any musical filler and left out everything that doesn't really make a song better. On the other hand, it's about the fact that the whole world around us increasingly consists of filler. Linguistically, humanly, in terms of cosmetic surgery. Instagram filters inflate our lives, while all around us there is inner emptiness." One major change has been the band's consistency. The album "Never Enough", released between the pandemic lockdowns, went through several producers and was recorded in different studios. This time, not only was drummer and regular producer Fazo permanently installed (he also produced the Amadeus-nominated album by Bipolar Feminin), but with Kaiser Franz Josef frontman Sham there was also a sound tinkerer from outside, away from the tunnel vision.

"I used to press 'play' and had to run to the drums to play," laughs Fazo, "but no disrespect: it was good to have a fresh perspective from outside. You can hear that on the album." The Baits had three reference albums in advance to get the right sound. "Songs For The Deaf" by Queens Of The Stone Age, the Nirvana evergreen "Nevermind" and the debut album by Weezer. Not so easy when your own music is so eclectic. In a general sense, the Baits create punk rock, of course, but the field of experimentation has been expanded considerably compared to the debut, without forgetting the basics. On "All Filler No Killer", you not only hear the first breakdown and blastbeat in the band's history, but also meander in countless stylistic directions. "Hello My Love", the oldest song on the album, shows the band in an unusually poppy way, "Sleep With You" takes an indie direction, "Hey Girl" is a nod to the Pixies and on "Let Go", the band has already been accused of taking a stab at Nirvana's "Aneurysm".

(Bild: Andreas Graf)

Just be Gusch
"What ended up on the album is what we all think is cool together and not what was in my head at the beginning," Sonja emphasizes the democracy in the band, "we allowed ourselves a lot of fun this time. For example, we smashed a huge vase. Fun is the most important thing for us." That doesn't always apply to the lyrics. "Fucking Fake" alludes to the fact that we always wear masks and play roles in life. That the authenticity of being is displaced by a wishful reality. "Sleep With You" is not an invitation to make love, but a gentle number that revolves around exhaustion and necessary rest. "Hey Girl" addresses the tiresome topic of catcalling. "Sometimes an artist is just an artist and shouldn't say anything about Gaza," Fazo says, referring to Björk and other semi-political female musicians. "Just keeping your mouth shut more often wouldn't be so bad anyway," Sonja adds.

Despite the pandemic and its aftermath, the Baits played around 60 concerts in 2020 and 2021 and are on tour as often as possible, as far as the members' jobs allow. Of course, this is only possible with the necessary amount of passion and dedication. "You can't have pets, families and relationships have to take a back seat. Everyone around you needs a lot of tolerance and understanding and when you're on tour, you don't want to be on the phone every day because you're in your own world. We're not the youngest anymore, but we're workhorses. We know exactly what we want and pull together. Of course, there are moments when you want to move to the country with a dog, but as soon as you get on the tour bus, you're blown away." Even if the distant future is uncertain, Sonja can at least get carried away with a statement. "Every sensible band releases at least three albums. I'm sure we'll be around that long. We tour differently now than we used to. On our day off, we go to the spa and not to the nearest pub."

(Bild: Andreas Graf)

Welcome anarchy
For Sonja in particular, life with Baits is a welcome change. "I'm a teacher in my day job and school works according to certain rules and is always the same - so the band is a welcome anarchy. You are detached from bourgeois duties and dogmas and, of course, I am a different person on stage than the one who teaches." The Carinthian-born singer draws enough topics from her everyday life, but doesn't want them to become too personal. "I deliberately write the lyrics vaguely so that everyone can interpret them for themselves. It's a bit like a David Lynch movie: choose your own path, or don't look at all." The motivation for writing lyrics is loosely based on punk legend Johnny Rotten's motto "Anger Is An Energy". "Anger drives me. The songs come from it and there is so much you can and must be angry about."

Baits see the desire for anger and real music as being rooted not least in current society. "There are so many punk and post-punk bands coming out in England right now, which is certainly indirectly due to Brexit and the fact that so much has been going wrong there for years. In 2020, the music world was much softer than it is today. Guitars and aggression are becoming more important again and people want to sweat more live and really live it up. The world is falling apart, but musically it's a really cool development." All the Baits rage is channeled into a crisp 32 minutes on "All Filler No Killer". "An appropriate length," says Fazo, "it fits my own attention span exactly and you don't always have to pretend that something is more, even though it's not. We also like to play live for only 30 to 45 minutes, but the organizers want at least 60 minutes of concert. Then we just have to talk and banter more."

(Bild: Andreas Graf)

Release show in Vienna, tour through Austria
Freshly nominated for the Amadeus Award in the Hard & Heavy category, Baits will play their official album release show on the day of release, March 15, in the Vienna Arena. After an extensive tour of Germany, the band will be touring Austria later in the spring. At the beginning of April, they will play at the Styrian Sounds Festival at ppc in Graz, on May 8 at Kapu in Linz, on May 9 at PMK in Innsbruck, on May 10 at Rockhouse Salzburg, on May 11 at Kulturhof Keller in Villach and on May 24 at the Dynamo Festival in Dornbirn. Further dates will follow later in the year. You can find all the dates and tickets for the events listed at www.baitsmusic.com.